Year
2018
Abstract
Federal regulations require that radioactive material packages withstand bounding Normal Conditions of Transport (NCT) and Hypothetical Accident Conditions (HAC) to ensure package integrity in the most severe transportation cases [1]. Consequently, low density, energy absorbent materials such as structural honeycomb are commonly used to dissipate kinetic energy during accident conditions. Unlike the aluminum honeycomb traditionally used in the aerospace industry, stainless steel honeycomb is not well characterized as an impact absorber. Although less utilized, stainless steel honeycomb is advantageous in that it can be fabricated through vacuum brazing, effectively eliminating the need for organic adhesives typically found in most aluminum honeycomb.In order to assess the feasibility of stainless steel honeycomb as a packaging material, this study validates established analytical models for honeycomb crush strength with experimental results,\\ and characterizes the critical attributes which define the honeycomb’s mechanical properties. The crush strength of the honeycomb was demonstrated to be consistent, yet highly dependent on thequantity of braze filler metal (BFM) applied during brazing. The experimental test results for both the static and dynamic crush strength of the honeycomb were highly consistent with published analytical approximations. Furthermore, a clear correlation between strain rate and material crush strength can be inferred from the test results, thereby establishing a method to predict the crush strength at a range of strain rates. Development of stainless steel honeycomb as a packaging material is ongoing.